Under a Shattered Moon
by Echoessa
Summary: Shinobi and Huntsmen. Kunoichi and Huntresses. Chakra and Aura. So similar, yet so different. Almost as they belonged to two different worlds, dimensions even. But what if that wasn't the case? What if Shinobi and Huntsmen lived on the same planet, on two continents so far apart from each other to never once notice the other's presence? Not until a certain blond broke the moon...
1. Chapter 1 - Orange Trailer

**Chapter 1 – Orange Trailer**

"Wake up, Naruto-san. We've almost arrived."

Yawning loudly, Naruto shook his head and scratched the back of his neck with his bandaged hand as he arched his back. Audible pops echoed inside the bullhead, the sound ricocheting along the metallic plates which formed the small aircraft, followed by a deep, satisfied groan. Smacking his lips a couple of times, Naruto rubbed his eyes with one hand and straightened his black uniform jacket with the other before giving a sleepy smile to the person who had just woken him up.

"Thank you for the heads up, Samui-chan! I really needed that nap, dattebayo. These seats are surprisingly comfortable," Naruto chirped happily as he stretched his arms high above his head, removing the last few muscle knots. In that exact moment, his stomach decided to make his presence known growling rowdily. Naruto slumped in his seat, his good mood all at once gone as he pouted while patting his rumbling stomach, "I know buddy, I miss ramen too. Just hang in there. You heard Samui-chan, wait for a couple of minutes and then we're going to have all the ramen that we want."

A shadow of doubt flickered across his face as Naruto tried to remember if he had ever asked during the various mission debriefings if there was actually ramen where he was going. Usually he kept that question for last, since apparently it wasn't really professional for a jōnin to ask something like that, but Naruto needed to know. His eyes widened slightly and beads of sweat began to pour down his temples as his memory failed him to make him recollect a moment when he had asked that particular, vital question.

How could he have possibly forgotten?!

"Winter?" gulping slightly, Naruto called the Atlesian soldier who was regally sitting in front of him, his tone one of hopeful and pleading. "There is going to be some ramen at this Beacon Academy, right?"

A perfectly trimmed eyebrow gently arched at the query. Just a few short months ago, Winter Schnee, specialist in the Atlesian Military's Special Operatives unit, would have been utterly confused and speechless to hear such a question. Especially since it came out of the mouth of a shinobi. When the new continent west of Vacuo had first been discovered, several people, herself included, were wary of these shinobi that inhabited those lands.

Knowing that their culture was based around mercenaries who were willing to do anything for the right price – from gathering secret information to carrying out assassinations – wasn't really that reassuring. After spending several months in the presence of Naruto, her opinion drastically changed on the matter.

Crossing her legs, Winter hummed in thought as she softly drummed her fingers on her knee. "I'm certain of the presence of several ramen shops in Vale. However," she quickly added, the blond shinobi's initial enthusiastic expression dimming somewhat in response, "You and your teammates, as the representatives of the Shinobi Union assigned to the kingdom of Vale, won't be allowed to leave the premises of Beacon Academy. At least for the first few months. Until then, I highly doubt that ramen is going to be served to the huntsmen and huntresses in training. Well, that's how it was when I attended Atlas Academy."

"Months?" Naruto whispered with dread as he slowly curled into a fetal position. "No ramen… for months?"

Seeing the desperation etched on the jinchūriki's face, Samui's typical aloof expression and the fidgeting Chōjūrō seating next to her, Maki realised that if she didn't reassure Naruto, no one was going to do it. And she really wanted to avoid introducing herself to the staff of Beacon Academy with an overpowered ramen addict freaking out for the absence of his favourite food item in tow. It probably wouldn't give them the best first impression.

"Didn't you bring with you several scrolls with ramen sealed into them?" the jōnin from Suna gently reminded him as she leaned forward in her seat. "I do remember seeing you eating quite a few bowls while we were staying in Vytal and there wasn't any ramen there."

"I finished it all, dattebayo!" Naruto blurted out, waving his hands dramatically in the air, "I thought I would restock my supply here in Vale. I had no idea that there wouldn't be any ramen! How could someone live without it?! This is bad. This is really, really bad. I can't stay without ramen for so long!" With that last desperate shout, Naruto jumped to his feet and began to walk nervously up and down the bullhead.

While the two other Atlesian soldiers present in the airship tensed their muscles and moved their hands toward their weapons in response to the blond shinobi's sudden movement, Winter could only watch the scene with a bemused expression on her face. A small nod of her head was enough to reassure her subordinates who slowly, and begrudgingly, pulled back their hands from their rifles, but kept their eyes still fixed on the distraught form of the jinchūriki, ready to intervene if needed.

Dropping to his knees in front of Samui, Naruto looked up at his team captain with his hands clasped together in a pleading gesture. "Please, Samui-chan. Can I go back to Konoha to take some ramen? I don't need any bullhead. I'll simply fly there on my own! You won't even notice that I'm gone, I promise. I'll be back here in just a minute."

Her blank light blue eyes met his begging cerulean blue and she blinked once. "No."

Before Naruto could began an interminable tirade on why denying him the chance to have his necessary daily ramen could bring the end of the world as they know it – a speech that, unfortunately, they wouldn't hear for the first time – a faint voice interrupted him.

"N-Naruto-san," Chōjūrō stuttered and fidgeted even more in his seat once he realised everyone present in the bullhead was now looking at him. "I think that you could ask to the staff of Beacon Academy if they could serve some ramen in the canteen on some days."

His cheeks dusted pink and a sense of heightened confidence filled him as he remembered the words of his Kage. "Mei-sama and the other Kage were quite clear on the fact that the reason why a team of shinobi was sent to each one of the four Academies of Remnant was not only to make us understand better their culture, but also to show them ours. We are their guests, not prisoners. Cooking some ramen shouldn't be too hard for them to do. It's a pretty simple meal."

"Really? They're going to make me some ramen?" Naruto asked in confirmation turning his head toward the Schnee as his eyes sparkled with joy while his hands were now clasped under his chin.

Holding back the giggle that bubbled in her throat – she was Winter Schnee! She didn't giggle – she nodded her head once. "Chōjūrō's reasoning is sound. If you have a request, which is nothing too outlandish, I can't see why it couldn't be fulfilled. This agreement between the four kingdoms and the Shinobi Union was made in order to improve the relationship between huntsmen and huntresses, and shinobi and kunoichi. It would be incredibly counterproductive if we are not willing to cooperate with each other, even on something as simple as giving you some ramen."

"Yatta!" Elated knowing that his stay at Beacon Academy would include some godly noodles, Naruto raised his hands high above his head and happily bounced around the bullhead. The poor pilot tried unsuccessfully to calm him down and make him take a seat, since they were about to land, but once he saw the blond shinobi make a goofy, happy celebration dance in the middle of the airship, he lost every hope of being heard by him. Thankfully for him, one of his teammates, the woman with red markings on her cheeks and a white bandana knotted around her head, gently but firmly tugged him on his arm, guiding the exuberant shinobi back to his seat.

Silently chuckling to himself, he shook his head as he began the landing manoeuvre. These were the infamous shinobi so many people were afraid of?

 **x-x-x-x-x**

As the four shinobi and kunoichi walked along the main venue leading to the Academy, the first thing they did was scanning their surroundings. Their eyes quickly darted left and right, diligently taking in every detail of their new home for the next few couple of years, leaving nothing untouched by their senses. While this action was mostly made out of habit, considering their chosen profession, between identifying escape routes and advantage points they couldn't help but admire what they were seeing.

Tall, elaborate buildings were a rarity back home in the Shinobi Countries. After all, a tall building was simply an easier target for your enemies to hit, and it was quite useless to decorate it since a well-placed jutsu could easily destroy it. Only the Kage Towers and the occasional Daimyō residence were the few exceptions to this unwritten rule, but even in those cases they've never reached the same amount of complexity and extravagance present in the building in front of them.

Regardless, the flag-drapes light poles, fountains and archways which decorated the street – while pretty to look at – weren't distracting enough to not make them notice the lonely figure waiting for them in front of the Academy's entrance. The man took a couple of steps forward, his right hand bringing a white mug of coffee with Beacon's emblem printed on it to his lips while his left held a cane, the tip of it firmly planted on the ground next to his feet.

"Winter," Ozpin pleasantly greeted the Atlesian soldier after taking a sip of coffee, "It's very nice to see you. Are you going to stay here and follow us to my office or you have to immediately return to Atlas?"

Straightening her posture, Winter clasped her hands behind her back and cleared her throat before relaying her orders to the headmaster, "Good to see you too, Ozpin. Unfortunately, I must depart straightaway. General Ironwood ordered me to escort the shinobi team to you and, once left it in your care, return to Atlas at once."

After letting out a wistful sigh, the headmaster of Beacon took another sip of coffee, "I imagined so. It's been almost two years since we had the first contact with the shinobi and James hasn't relaxed once since then. While I do understand his desire to protect Remnant, I think that sometimes he may carry out his duty with a little bit too much devotion. Perhaps we'll talk another time then. Have a safe trip back to Atlas."

After exchanging a nod of goodbye with the specialist, his gaze swept over the four ninja. His brown eyes carefully studied each one of them, however they lingered longer on Naruto, only by a fraction of second though. The four guests present were sure that they managed to notice it only thanks to their shinobi training, otherwise they would have completely missed it.

Before anyone could ask him something, Ozpin's gaze once more shifted toward the blond jōnin from Kumo. "You must be Samui, the team captain. The Raikage spoke very highly of you. I'm looking forward seeing what you're capable of." Looking up at the large central tower of the Academy, he mused aloud to himself, "Well, there's no reason to talk here outside. Let's go to my office. Please, follow me."

Turning around, Ozpin moved toward the large wooden door which, almost magically, opened by itself once the silver haired professor approached it. Just when the four ninja where about to follow him, Winter stopped one of them, "Naruto, stay here for a moment, if you please."

Uncertain on what to do, Naruto shot a questioning glance at Samui who, just like the rest of the team, turned around the moment Winter voiced her request. His first instinct was to simply stop dead in his tracks and listen to whatever Winter wanted to say to him. However, right now they were on a mission and Samui was his team captain. He had to follow her orders.

Who knew, those lessons Iruka-sensei gave to him after the war to help him to get to jōnin rank were actually useful for something. For a while he thought that his sensei simply wanted to get him back for all the pranks he pulled during the times he spent at the Academy with him.

Ending the Fourth Shinobi World War just to be stuck inside of a classroom and listen to Iruka-sensei talking for hours and hours on end as reward wasn't exactly what he had expected.

Once Samui gave him an imperceptible nod in response, Maki and Chōjūrō followed their captain as she entered the Academy leaving the jinchūriki behind. Now alone with Winter, as the other Atlesian soldiers present were preparing the bullhead for take-off, Naruto tilted his head and, giving her an easy smile, asked her, "What do you need?"

Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, the Schnee took a deep breath and fixed her eyes on him for just a second before bending her head slightly toward the ground. Her posture somehow was even stiffer than before, something that Naruto honestly didn't thought it was possible.

"I beseech you to safeguard the wellbeing of my sister in her future endeavours while attending Beacon Academy."

Naruto blinked once. Twice. Humming in thought, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes narrowed. "I didn't understand a single word of what you've just said," he confessed her, grinning sheepishly as his bandaged hand nervously scratched the back of his head, "I'm still kind of… new to all this different language thingy. Clones have been really useful to learn it, but I still don't know the big words. So… could you please repeat what you've said using easier words?"

Her posture relaxed as she let out a sigh, "Could you please keep an eye on my sister while she's here at Beacon? Weiss is incredibly talented and I have no doubts of her abilities. However, I can't help but worry about her. Sparring with your instructor in a controlled environment is one thing, finding yourself surrounded by Grimm miles away from the nearest human settlement is another."

Smiling broadly, Naruto gave her the 'nice guy pose' as he confidently declared, "Sure, you can count on me! I'll watch over her. Nothing is going to happen to Weiss. It's a promise, dattebayo!"

"No, I don't want you to protect her always. She needs to face some challenges to develop as a huntress and I don't want to coddle her too much. That's the reason why she decided to go to Beacon and not Atlas, after all. Just help her when she may need it." Looking into thin air, she tapped her chin in thought as she began to walk back and forth in front of him. "If it's a Beowolf, a Boarbatusk, a Creep or a Ursa then she shouldn't have any problem. Of course, it all depends on the number of them, but the largest packs usually don't roam in the vicinities of the capitals. So, she should be fine on that front. Death Stalker, Nevermore and King Taijitu are slightly different. If there's only one, then stay near to her but don't intervene unless it's absolutely necessary. If there are more of them then take care of the rest and leave one for her. A Goliath is probably the only type of Grimm that she could encounter that I don't want her to fight. Not yet, at least. They always travel in packs and they live long enough to develop a greater intelligent than the usual mindless Grimm. In that case, be ready to grab her and drag her out of there. Got it?"

Naruto opened and closed his jaw wordlessly as a look of total and utter confusion swept across his face. "Could you write me that down?" he asked her while scratching the top of his head.

Smiling at him, she raised onto her tiptoes and gently patted his confused, adorable, little head. "I'm sure that you'll manage to remember. Thank you so much for doing this for me, Naruto. We'll probably seeing each other at the Vytal Festival. Bye for now. Take care."

The blond Uzumaki dumbly waved goodbye to her as she walked away toward the bullhead. Once the airship disappeared among the clouds, his hands moved to his head. His fingers curling desperately into the short strands of his hair as he tried to understand what just happened. In the end, did he or did he not have to protect her sister? The first answer that it came to his mind was, of course, yes. But apparently it wasn't that simple. She'd said something about staying hidden, or grabbing Weiss and jumping away according to numbers...

Why didn't she simply write it down just as he had asked her to?

"Are you going to stay here all day while foolishly staring into nothingness, Mr. Uzumaki?"

Yelping, Naruto jumped to his feet as he suddenly noticed the person standing next to him. A very annoyed Glynda Goodwitch was staring at him with her arms crossed over her chest, her foot tapping in an impatient way, and a blond sceptical eyebrow raised. She reminded him of an angry Tsunade-baachan and he wasn't willing to test if also their behaviours while enraged were similar. He was quite certain that she didn't have any sort of inhuman strength, but she could easily have another ability just as terrifying.

When he realised that she was actually waiting for an answer from him and that she had not asked him a rhetorical question, he immediately straightened his posture and diligently responded, "No, ma'am."

"I heard about you, Mr. Uzumaki. Both about your good deeds and your less… savoury one." The tip of a riding crop suddenly smacked him in the middle of his chest. "You weren't thinking about pulling one of your infamous pranks, were you?" she questioned him as her green eyes narrowed suspiciously behind her thin glasses.

"No, ma'am."

Straightening her black high-waisted pencil skirt, she cleared her throat, choosing her next words with care. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch. I'm one of the teacher of Beacon Academy but, most importantly for you, the professor usually appointed to clean the chaos left behind by one of those students who wrongly believes that an act of vandalism equals a fun time. You are not going to be one of those troubling students, are you?"

"No, ma'am."

After giving him one last scrutinizing glance she nodded her head, glad of the answers she got from the blond shinobi. "Very well, Mr. Uzumaki. I'm sure that if you remember this conversation we won't have any problem during your stay here at Beacon Academy." As she removed her riding crop from his chest, Glynda slightly moved to the side and pointed with her hand at the central tower of the Academy, "Professor Ozpin and the rest of your team are waiting for you. His office is located at the top of the tower. You can't miss it. You may go now."

The moment she finished talking, Naruto was enveloped in a bright, golden light before seemingly disappear into thin air. Pulling her glasses higher up her nose, Glynda attentively examined her surroundings and, once she focused hard enough, she could faintly distinguish a luminous trail starting from the entrance of the Academy and continuing toward the top of tower.

Absently tapping her riding crop on the palm of her hand, she entered the building as her mind pondered over the conversation she just had with the shinobi. Maybe she could have been a little bit gentler with him, but every time she heard someone talk about Uzumaki they either described his great, honourable actions or his notorious shenanigans.

She really didn't want to constantly fix the Academy with her telekinesis for the next four years.

 **x-x-x-x-x**

Barging into Ozpin's office, Naruto positioned himself next to Samui and dispersed his Rikudō Sennin Mōdo. Sensing Professor Goodwitch's presence walking further and further away from his position, his entire posture relaxed considerably and an easy smile formed on his lips as he breathed out a relieved sigh.

While the three other ninja present were confused by his weirder than normal behaviour, Ozpin regarded him with a bemused look, "It seems that you've met Glynda."

At the jinchūriki's hesitant nod and the puzzled expression on the faces of his teammates – a faintly raised eyebrow in Samui's case – the silver-haired huntsmen leaned back on his chair before explaining the situation, "Glynda Goodwitch is one of the professors here at Beacon and from the first moment she had heard about Naruto's exploits during his younger years, especially those coming from his own teachers, she hadn't been thrilled by the prospect of accepting a prankster into our Academy."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched as his _beloved_ teammates exchanged knowing looks with one another. "Oi! I'm not that terrible, dattebayo."

Finding his reaction incredibly entertaining, Ozpin couldn't help but tease him a little bit more, "Looking at the night sky, I can honestly understand Glynda's preoccupation. You certainly are prone to destruction. The moon is quite the proof of that. I hope you're not going to reduce my Academy in the same state."

"For the hundredth time, I didn't break the moon. Toneri was the one who did it!" Naruto defended himself as he sulked. Why did everyone believe he was the one who shattered the moon?

"Oh," Ozpin exclaimed sounding honestly surprised. The mischievous glint in his eyes, however, ruined that innocent image. "So you weren't that bright golden figure who pulverized several spots on the moon surface with… luminous gold spheres in his hands?"

As he opened his mouth to disprove his involvement in the destruction of the satellite, Naruto realised that what the headmaster was saying was, regrettably, the truth. "Well, that was me. But I was fighting against Toneri to, you know, save the world and protect everybody. I couldn't exactly pull my punches during that fight."

"Yes, of course, and we are all extremely grateful to you for that," conceding the point to the shinobi, he brought his mug of coffee to his lips and took a sip before saying one last thing on the subject, "Either way, if you destroyed the Academy you'll have to face Glynda's wrath and I have the feeling the you'll try your utmost best to avoid it."

Smiling at Naruto's pale face, Ozpin stood up from his chair and grabbed his cane holding it firmly by the handle. "I've just finished to debrief your teammates on what you're going to do for the next four years here at Beacon but it was mostly a repetition of what you've already heard during your stay at Vytal. I'm sure that they'll be more than happy to clarify any doubt you may have. In the meantime, I should introduce myself to you. I'm Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy and let me say that it's a real pleasure to finally met you, Naruto Uzumaki."

"You know of me?"

Ozpin let out a chuckle at the question. "I think there isn't a single person who doesn't know of you, Naruto. While your fight against Toneri happened only two years ago and the world of the shinobi was first introduced to Remnant because of it, you are already considered a legend by several citizens of the four kingdoms. The tales of what happened during the Fourth Shinobi War reached also our ears and, even if we weren't directly involved, a large portion of the population is grateful for your efforts in defending our free will."

Grinning bashfully, Naruto nervously scratched the back of his neck, "I simply wanted to protect my friends. I wasn't expecting any kind of reward. I'm just happy to hear that my action actually saved a lot more people than I first imagined."

"Anyway, we'll have more time in the future to discuss your actions of the past. As of now, I should leave the four of you to settle into your room." Ozpin walked around the desk and stood in front of it. His eyes once more studied briefly the blond shinobi, just like he had done previously while they were at the Academy's entrance, before continuing addressing the entire team, "The school year will start in a week. Until then, feel free to explore the Academy and talk with our professors. Considering that you'll assist each one of them during their respective lessons, I'm expecting all of you to work nicely with one another."

After finishing his speech, Ozpin offered his hand and Naruto was the first ready to grasp it and shake it. The moment his bandaged hand touched Ozpin's naked one a shiver went down his spine. What Naruto felt wasn't unpleasant, quite the opposite. It almost seemed familiar somehow. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to ponder on that thought because that strange feeling quickly faded away and what remained was the headmaster of Beacon greeting him with a small smile.

"Welcome to Beacon Academy."

 **x-x-x-x-x**

 **Author note:** Finally done! I wrote all of this today. I really, really, really wanted to post my Naruto X RWBY crossover today to celebrate the release of the Volume 4. Considering that I wrote it quickly, I'll probably check it once more in the future. Right now, I'm really tired though.

I want to tell you just a couple of info you may want to know. The story is set two years after the event of "Naruto: The Last" and a single week before the beginning of RWBY. The world of RWBY and Naruto's one are on the same planet, the 'broken moon of Remnant' is broken because (apparently) Naruto's fight against Toneri shattered it. In future chapters I will explain everything that happened during the Infinite Tsukuyomi for the Remnant's continents, don't you worry. For now, you'll have to wait.

Something that I want to clarify immediately is that there hasn't been any sort of war between huntsmen and shinobi. Both of these two cultures were actually quite stable when they first contacted each other – the four kingdoms of Remnant cooperate with each other and the Shinobi Union is an alliance between the greater villages – so they didn't immediately attack each other but, instead, tried to collaborate. While Remnant is interested in chakra and in the absence of Grimm from the shinobi land, the shinobi are instead intrigued by their huge technological development, and I'm referring to the ones not related to the military – transportation, communication, etc...

Each one of them wants something from the other and they are willing to reach a peaceful understanding to obtain it. After all, both of them went through a war – Remnant 80 years ago while the Shinobi 4 measly years ago – so they are not so eager to start another one.

This sort of exchange program is a consequent of this improving relationship. I want to make something quite clear: Naruto, Samui, Chōjūrō and Maki are NOT students of Beacon Academy. They are guest who will observe how huntsmen and huntresses are trained by assisting the teachers during their lessons. I think that the Academies are the perfect places where inviting shinobi. They are quite isolated from the main cities and full of trained huntsmen and huntresses ready to attack them if needed. On the other hand, shinobi are warriors basically since birth so they could definitely give great hindsight to the students while, in the meantime, learn more about the world of Remnant.

See you all next chapter. Bye.

 **Posted: 10/22/16**

 **Last Updated: 04/26/17**


	2. Chapter 2 - Setting Up the Board

**Chapter 2 – Setting Up the Board**

With the faintest of smiles playing on his lips, Naruto inhaled and exhaled slowly and deeply as he let his senses flow, feeling the peaceful forest that surrounded him. Few stray rays of sunshine, which somehow managed to pierce through the dense canopy of leaves covering the woodland floor, washed over his whiskered face. The warmth of the morning sun contrasted nicely with the cold breeze blowing out of the southeast from the steep mountains that bordered Vale, grazing over his skin like a gentle caress, making him feel neither too warm nor too cold. Only the occasional bird chirping in a tree or squirrel climbing up a nearby trunk interrupted the droning sound of the soft rustle of leaves that, otherwise, would have lulled the shinobi to sleep.

Maybe it was due to his mastery of senjutsu that granted him the title of sage or maybe, more simply, just because he grew up in a village aptly called Konohagakure – hidden by tree leaves – but Naruto loved nature, especially forests. A sense of belonging filled his entire being whenever the distinctive fragrance of leaves and loam reached his nostrils. Even the rough bark of the tree that was currently scratching through his clothes against his skin, as he was leisurely sitting on a branch while resting his back and head against the trunk, didn't feel uncomfortable at all, but familiar.

He felt at home.

Considering how he had been ostracised by his fellow villagers for most of his childhood and part of his teenage years due to the circumstances of his birth, it was understandable why Naruto sought almost avidly this particular feeling of acceptance, kinship and security, both from the people he interacted with and from the places he found himself in. That was why he was currently savouring, with genuine happiness, the warm and pleasant experience of being encompassed by nature, blissfully basking in the sun while perched up in one of the highest trees of the Emerald Forest. A forest that was so similar to the outskirts of his home village that Naruto was almost expecting to see six stone faces peeking above the treetops instead of the grandiose structure of Beacon Academy, which was steadily resting on the cliff top overseeing the land surrounding it as its namesake suggested.

After spending six long months stuck in the island of Vytal, cramped inside a building with seven shinobi, eight kunoichi and a full platoon of Atlesian soldiers controlling their every move, the pure unadulterated forest around him was a sight for his sore eyes. Naruto had to admit that his stay on the small island north of Vale hadn't been that bad, per se. The soldiers and huntsmen who were there, while obviously wary of their foreign guests at first, quickly warmed up to them. The Atlesian specialist Winter Schnee being the prime example of this. However, there was also to consider the reason why the four teams of ninja had been sent there in the first place.

As agreed beforehand by the Shinobi Union and the four kingdoms, the sixteen shinobi and kunoichi, who were entrusted with the task of visiting the four Academies, were going to receive an introduction to the laws, culture and history of Remnant on the island of Vytal to facilitate their transition into the new foreign land. It was a reasonable request the Shinobi Union made and the kingdoms of Remnant accepted it with no protests. While ninja were trained to be capable to adapt to any kind of situation they might find themselves in, more information was always presumed to be better than less.

So, to sum up, Naruto had to go back to school as a student during his stay in Vytal.

Yeah, the jinchūriki wasn't exactly thrilled when he heard that particular piece of information. He still diligently accepted the mission without any complaints and vowed to fulfil it at the best of his abilities, like he had always done, but his earlier excitement was slightly dimmed by that news. While he had come a long way from the hyperactive prankster he had been during his youth, he still had a complicated love/hate relationship with schools and anything related to them. The logical part of his brain understood the importance of education, he himself had been an instructor at the Konoha Shinobi Academy, but between spending hours stuck in a classroom reading a book or being outside training, Naruto would always find the second option much more appealing.

A sudden rustling of bushes brought his mind back to the present and he immediately focused back on the mission he had to accomplish, banishing every thought that could distract him from his current objective – capturing a Boarbatusk.

Even if that particular Grimm was probably the least dangerous of them all, being not too much dissimilar from a slightly more armoured wild boar in term of strength and intelligence with just an extra pair of tusks, it was wrong and incredibly stupid to simply dismiss it as a possible threat. Naruto figured that it was better be safe than sorry, and carefully watched the Grimm from his elevated position on the tree.

Besides, it would be quite embarrassing if the _Saviour of this World_ were hurt by an overgrown piggy. He would never forgive himself and he was pretty sure he wouldn't be the only one to do so. He could already picture Sai teasing him with his usual fake smile while, somehow, including his penis in the conversation.

Narrowing his eyes at the dark figure strolling on the ground below him, Naruto brought two of his bandaged fingers up to his earpiece and alerted the rest of the team present in the Emerald Forest with him through the radio, "Boarbatusk spotted. It's alone and slowly moving northwest toward your position Maki-chan. You should see it in approximately three minutes. We'll engage once we regroup."

After receiving two sounds of acknowledgment in response, one a bit more boisterous than the other, Naruto silently began to stalk his prey. His cerulean eyes were fixed on the wild boar-like creature, which was completely unware of the presence looming directly above itself, as the shinobi jumped from branch to branch with swiftness and dexterity acquired after years of travelling through the forests that covered most of Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire). In exactly three minutes, he felt a familiar chakra signature nearby and, perched up in a tree just like himself, he saw Maki patiently waiting for his arrival. Her gaze immediately latched on to the figure of the Grimm once it entered her field of vision, diligently following its every movement, as the Boarbatusk aimlessly wandered into the small clearing below her. The long roll of white cloth used for her signature Nunoshibari no Jutsu (Cloth Binding Technique) was already unsealed, safely tucked beneath her left arm, and ready to be used.

The Suna jōnin was the only member of the shinobi team sent to Beacon that had to change her attire during their stay here in the northern part of the Sanus continent. The kingdom of Vale had a completely different climate from the one she was used to so, the standard uniform worn by the majority of Sunagakure ninja, while perfectly fine for a kingdom like Vacuo which was located at the centre of a vast desert, was not ideal in this area. Moreover, presenting yourself garbed from head to toe in a regular military uniform, as if you were ready to go to war, maybe wouldn't have given the right message to the huntsmen and huntresses in training at Beacon Academy.

The ninja were supposed to appear friendly, after all. Nevertheless, Maki took great pride in her heritage, therefore the changes she made to her clothes, while substantial, were still visibly heavily influenced by the culture of her home village.

The typical turban wrapped around her head was swapped for a simpler white bandana worn as her Suna forehead protector which partially covered her chin length straight brown hair. She completely got rid of the bulky Sunagakure flak jacket, leaving her with a simple beige blouse off the shoulders and equally beige short tight pants. Knee high brown shinobi sandals protected her feet and shins, while black gloves with silver elbow-length arm guards covered both of her forearms. Taking a leaf out her old sensei's book, she also wore a white obi around her waist, holding a standard brown pouch in the small of her back, with two white lapels bordered by a beige trimming on the front and the back, which blended perfectly with the white cloth she used during her techniques. Last but not least, the blue forehead protector of the Allied Forces she wore during the Fourth Shinobi World War was proudly displayed around her left arm, scratches and nicks earned during the conflict included.

Naruto himself was wearing that same forehead protector, his much less damaged and with a black cloth instead, safely tied around his right arm, opposite to the red armband with the Uzumaki crest on his left bicep. He had received that hitai-ate exactly six months ago for this mission. When the five Kage informed him that he had to wear the symbol of the Allied Forces during his stay in Remnant, since he was acting as a representative of the Shinobi Union and not only as a shinobi of Konohagakure, Naruto kindly reminded them that he was never given that specific forehead protector. He may or may not have sent them a small glare while saying that. The blond Uzumaki was still slightly peeved at the plan made at the beginning of the war of protecting the two remaining jinchūriki at all cost by trapping him and Killer B on an island on top of a giant turtle. He understood the Kage's concerns, but that didn't mean he had to like their decision.

Once Maki noticed Naruto's presence, she silently adjusted her position on the branch, marginally shifting her feet along the rough bark. Her gaze briefly trailed over the white cloth she was holding which, wordlessly, slipped from her fingers and began to slowly descend along the trunk of the tree, coiling around it like a snake. The moment the fabric touched the ground, Maki raised her head and gave a curt nod to the blond. Reaching into the pouch tied around his right leg just above his knee, Naruto drew out six kunai with his bandaged hand and, after positioning three in each hand between his fingers, crossed his arms above his chest.

As he gave one last glance at the position of his target, Naruto took a deep breath before he initiated his attack. Swiftly extending his arms in front of him, the kunai flew through the air, missing the Grimm by mere inches. The Boarbatusk perceived the imminent threat only when the distinctive sounds of six knifes embedding themselves into six separate tree trunks around the clearing echoed throughout the forest, startling a flock of birds in the process. Its first instinct was to immediately flee but, once the Grimm tried to do so, it painfully found out that its entire body, from its stubby legs to the short line of hair along its spine, was bounded by thin, almost invisible, wire strings.

The Boarbatusk struggled against the threads that held him tightly, squirming on the woodland floor and even managing to make one of the string break under the pressure of its muscles. Animalistic grunts and guttural groans filled the air as it strained against the bindings, desperately trying to find an escape route from the trap it involuntarily walked itself into. Unfortunately for the Boarbatusk, Naruto wasn't going to simply stay put and let it figure a way out.

Jumping off the branch, he aimed his feet at the downed form of the Grimm. His black shinobi sandals harshly dug into the armoured back of the creature, thumping it into the ground with a crushing thud, before he used the now unmoving form of his target as a springboard and, once again, bounced back up into the air. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto spotted Maki's cloth stealthy slither through the tall grass and slowly rise up behind the Boarbatusk, like a cobra ready to strike its prey.

After flipping himself into the air, Naruto softly landed on the ground facing the Grimm, which in response narrowed its four red angry eyes at him, immediately identifying him as its enemy. Without a second thought, the blond shinobi lashed out with his hands, grasping firmly in each one of them one of the beast's large curving tusks, and slammed the Grimm against the hard floor on its side. The ninja wire that bounded it until moments prior, snapped in the process and a huge cloud of dust rose off the ground.

The Boarbatusk, confused and disoriented from the harsh beating it received abruptly and uninterruptedly in a matter of few seconds, was laying on his side completely defenceless in front of Maki's cloth. The fabric swiftly and mercilessly wrapped around its target, enveloping it in a cocoon of bandages before the Grimm even had the time to realise what was happening. One last sharp little squeak of rage filtered through the cloth before black lines of kanji spread all over it, completely paralysing and silencing the dark creature.

Maki, calmly approaching the captured Grimm resting in the middle of the small clearing, pulled out two red seal tags from her pouch and slapped them on the front and the back of the shell of fabric, ensuring that the Boarbatusk could not escape from the textile prison. After double checking that every kanji, piece of cloth and seal was in the right place, she moved her gaze to her blond partner, who gave her a wide grin and a thumbs up once their eyes met, as his other hand was absently dusting off his orange pants. His cheesy behaviour caused a small giggle to escape her lips and her hand flew up to her mouth trying to stifle it. Seeing the mirth dancing in his cerulean eyes and the playful grin on his lips, Maki had no doubt that Naruto did that on purpose but that didn't stop the small smile forming on her lips, mirroring his own.

Just as the blond Uzumaki slung the bundle of bandages with the Grimm inside over his shoulder, keeping it steady with a masterful – in his humble opinion – application of chakra through his fingertips, a boisterous voice erupted from the forest behind the two ninja, "Bravo! The technique, the timing, the execution! Excellent job you two. I heard stories about the abilities of the ninja, but seeing them with my own two eyes is a whole new experience. I had indeed the most wonderful idea to ask the two of you to accompany me on this expedition. A live Boarbatusk is just what I need for my first lesson with the new group of freshman arriving at Beacon tomorrow, and you two provided me with a superb specimen to show them. If I didn't know better, I'd think that you two were hunting the dreadful creatures of Grimm for years."

"Glad to be of help, Professor Port," Maki respectfully said as she faintly bowed her head to the middle-aged huntsman, whose impressive grey moustache twitched happily in response. Peter Port, professor at Beacon Academy teaching there the Grimm Studies class, was wearing something definitely unusual in the eyes of the two ninja. His characteristic double-breasted burgundy suit with gold trimming and buttons paired with matching pants tucked into olive cavalry boots wasn't something a shinobi would wear during a mission… or outside of it. However, his weapon of choice, a blunderbuss mixed with a battle axe which he carried on a sling over his shoulder, was undeniably what surprised them the most at first. "Besides, your hunch wouldn't be exactly too farfetched. Sometimes our missions involve the capture or suppression of wild animals which are terrorising small villages or, in most scenarios, simply damaging crop fields. Grimm may be stronger than the average wild creature but the principle is the same."

"Oh! And when are shinobi and kunoichi assigned the praiseworthy task of protecting the innocents from these ravaging beasts?" the middle-aged huntsman asked them, curious to find out more about the ninja's culture, as he guided the kunoichi and shinobi toward the exit of the Emerald Forest back to Beacon Academy.

Following the plump professor, Naruto scratched his head with his free hand. "Usually when you're a genin right after you graduate from the academy. Those types of missions are good to improve the teamwork of new teams and are never higher than a C-rank, so pretty low risk all things considered." With a wistful smile, he pointed his thumb at the bundle on his shoulder. "This actually reminds me of the times I had to capture Tora – the cat owned by Madam Shijimi, wife of the Fire Daimyō – when I was first put on a genin team."

Professor Port stopped abruptly and turned fully toward the blond shinobi, his hands clasped behind his back and head held high. "Are you comparing capturing a domestic cat to a Boarbatusk? I think I'm safe to assume that you might be exaggerating things a little bit, young man."

"Yeah, you're right," Naruto acknowledged Port's correction bobbling his head up and down. "The Boarbatusk is much, much easier. Tora constantly tries to run away and every time she gets better and better at hiding. I heard that the last genin team that took the mission had to spend two entire days trying to find her. Those poor kids have been hospitalised for chakra exhaustion once they delivered the cat back to Madam Shijimi and that little devil escaped again not even an hour later. I kind of feel sorry for the genin who'll have to capture her in the future. If she continues to find better hiding spots, maybe we'll have to deploy a team of chūnin to find her."

Humming in contemplation, Port's bushy eyebrows furrowed and he, somehow, squinted his eyes even more, turning them into almost two invisible slits, as he brought a hand to his chin, "I can see your strife, young man. A prey that adapts and evolves its own behaviour, learning from the hunters that itself faces in the past, is indeed a valuable opponent. One not to be underestimated. It seems that I own you an apology then. I shall immediately rectify my previous statement. After hearing your explanation, I admit that I'm quite intrigued by the possibility to challenge myself with such a clever foe. Do you believe it could be possible? It would make a compelling story which, I'm sure, would not only entertain my students, but also teach them an important lesson about how appearances may be deceiving."

Naruto nodded sagely as he approached the still pensive Port, "You are indeed a very wise man to be able to recognise my struggle. You don't need to apologise – your understanding is more than enough. Tora is not just a simple cat, I'm glad someone else can see it. About your request, I probably could ask Kakashi-sensei if he could give to you that mission when you'll visit Konohagakure. I don't think it'll cause any problem."

As Port gave Naruto a thankful pat on his shoulder and began to recount one of his many adventures of his time spent as a huntsman travelling across the wild, unexplored, dangerous lands of Remnant outside of the safety granted by the four kingdoms, Maki blankly stared at them, torn between slapping both of them on the back of the head or slapping herself, hoping that everything she had just witnessed had only been an illusion. An hallucination of some sort possibly caused by the stress of travelling through a forest infested by dangerous Grimm.

Did Naruto and Professor Port just bond over a cat?

Shaking her head, she looked once more ahead of her and resumed her silent walk, leaving the male duo to animatedly exchange stories and anecdotes as they closely followed behind her. She really shouldn't be surprised of how Naruto managed to connect with other people. The jinchūriki always found a way, no matter how weird it was.

"Naruto," Maki interrupted the disturbingly touching moment of male bonding by calling the blond shinobi who immediately gave her his full attention. "Didn't Professor Ozpin gave you an assignment to do while we were out here in the Emerald Forest?"

"Yeah, he asked me to check on the cameras spread around the forest which are going to be used during the initiation test in a couple of days. Do you want me to do it now? I was thinking to do it once I dropped this big guy back at Beacon," he answered, jerking his head toward the sealed Boarbatusk on his shoulder.

"I think it's better if you do it right away," Maki suggested. "Samui-taichō told us to meet her in the amphitheatre as soon as we had completed the task assigned by Professor Port. Apparently, the students of the second, third and fourth year that had already arrived at Beacon are allowed to participate in duels there, as they wait for the beginning of the school year and the arrival of the freshman. A second year student saw Chōjūrō walking with Hiramekarei on his back and asked to spar with him. Professor Goodwitch in the end allowed it under her supervision."

"Fine by me, Maki-chan. Here professor, hold this for a minute." Dropping the Boarbatusk in the awaiting arms of the veteran huntsman, who wobbled slightly under the weight of it, Naruto shrugged his shoulders and rolled his neck, relaxing his muscles, before he began to strip off his black military jacket and the white t-shirt he wore underneath. Once shirtless, he pointed with his eyes at the white cloth covered with black lines of kanji wrapped around his middle and raised his arms high above his head. Maki gently pressed her hand on the fabric above his abdomen and, a faint pulse of her chakra later, released Naruto's own chakra which was held back by her seal.

The cloth was blown away as a bright golden shroud suddenly materialised covering the entire form of the jinchūriki, its power creating a small dent into the ground around his feet, just to disappear a second later as Naruto, once more, regained control over his chakra after taking a few long, deep, calming breaths.

Letting out a relieved sigh, he happily scratched his now bare midsection with a satisfied grin on his face, "Much better. Having part of your chakra forcefully suppressed it's a real pain." Maki fought back a disappointed whine as Naruto decided to put his shirt and jacket on. What? If _the_ Uzumaki Naruto decided, by his own volition, to simply stay shirtless in front of her, she definitely wasn't going to look the other way. He was a fantastic eye candy. A muscled and suntanned eye candy. "It'll take me only a couple of minutes to check all the cameras, especially with the help of clones, so you two can go ahead. I'll catch with you later." Giving a two fingered salute to the kunoichi and the professor, Naruto jumped up to the trees to one branch to another until he disappeared from their view into the fit canopy of leaves.

"I'm still astonished by the fact that Naruto's chakra is strong enough to scare away the younger and weaker Grimm. If you hadn't used your cloth technique on him, we wouldn't have been able to approach any Grimm let alone capture one of them," Port commented after adjusting his hold on the bounded Boarbatusk, as he and Maki resumed their walk side by side back to the Academy. "I heard tales about more experienced and veteran huntsmen being able to influence the creatures of the Grimm through their Aura but nothing which could be even remotely compared to this. It seems that the Grimm recognise Naruto's presence instinctually as the one belonging to a stronger predator and they avoid him in order to preserve their own survival. Even if Boarbatusks and Beowolves are the only species we saw fleeing away at his mere sight, it's still remarkable."

Hearing Maki's unconvinced hum in response at his analysis, Port inquired the young – compared to him – Suna jōnin, "Do you believe there's something wrong with my assessment? Please, confide to me your doubts, my dear. I may be a professor at the prestigious Beacon Academy, but I don't pretend to know everything there is to know about the creatures of Grimm. They are as mysterious as they are dreadful, and every day presents a new occasion to learn something different about them. Only a fool would pass on the worthwhile opportunity to hear someone else's opinion just to defend his own ego and refuse to admit that he was wrong."

After quickly recollecting her thoughts, Maki gave a polite, thankful nod at the professor before she began to elucidate her theory to him, "Well, during our stay in Vytal the huntsmen and huntresses there taught us about the Grimm and, while it was unanimously accepted that not much is known about them – such as their origins or even what exactly they are made of – they all agreed on the fact that negative emotions seem to attract them, correct?"

"Indeed, it has been recorded several times throughout history that whenever a conflict or a calamity happened, the number of Grimm present in that area exponentially increased. Only once peace and order were once more established those foul creatures would no longer lurk in vicinity of those regions," the professor said confirming Maki's statement.

"Precisely. I believe that is not Naruto's powerful chakra that scares the Grimm away, but the emotions that he conveys through it." Port's arched eyebrows prompted Maki to continue, "Chakra is not that much different from Aura. Preliminary tests have shown that they may even have a common origin. Us ninja may not describe chakra as the manifestation of our soul, like you huntsmen do, but one of the two components of it is called spiritual energy, which derives from the mind's consciousness. That's why each chakra signature is different not only according to the amount of chakra each person has or the elemental affinities they may be aligned to, but also for the emotions, feelings and sensations the chakra itself transmits. Ninja are actually trained to be able to convey at will their emotions over the battlefield, usually to gain an advantage during a fight. This action is described as _sakki_."

"Sakki? Curious word… what does it mean?" Just as the Professor Port finished to ask his question, he felt a chill run down his spine that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. His entire demeanour changed from the boisterous teacher to a veteran huntsman in a fraction of second and, after dropping the cocoon of cloth at his feet and firmly grasping his trusty blunderbuss in both hands, he raised his weapon to his shoulder and aimed it at the threat that he could feel looming over him. He was utterly surprised to find himself pointing the barrel of his gun at the apologetic face of Maki.

Immediately lowering his weapon, his eyebrow furrowed in confusion as Port looked around him, no longer feeling that dreadful sensation that almost made him attack the Suna jōnin, wondering exactly what it was.

"Killing intent," Maki's soft voice snapped him out of his musing while at the same time answering his previous and current question. "Sakki can be roughly translated into killing intent, what you have just experienced. The ninja exudes pure killing intention to affect their opponent causing them to either feel distress, anxiety and, in extreme cases, even managing to paralyse them with fear. Your first reaction in front of a fight or flight situation was to arm yourself, stand your ground and fight back. As expected from a veteran huntsman," she genuinely commended his abilities. Her tone not one impressed but calm and even, simply stating some facts, almost the exact opposite of the professor's current state of mind.

"That was something… unexpected," Port breathed out in a raspy voice, feeling his throat suddenly dry. This brief episode made him immediately remember that ninja were primarily trained to fight and kill other people, not mindless beasts like huntsmen and huntresses were. "So, are you saying that Naruto is using this… sakki in order to keep the Grimm away from him?"

Melodic laughter filled the air and the professor was once more confused by the situation in front of him. This time at least it wasn't as tense. "I'm sorry," Maki wheezed out holding her sides, few chuckles still escaping her lips as she wiped her blue watering eyes. "It's just that I can't really imagine Naruto voluntarily blasting someone with his killing intent. I'm not saying that he wouldn't be capable to do so – I'm sure it would be a terrifying experience – but it's just not in his nature. If a Grimm attacks him, he's most likely going to try to befriend it rather than kill it. I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see him with a Beowolf flopped down on his back as he joyfully rubs its belly."

Chuckling one more time at this last thought, Maki continued once she evened out her breathing, "What I wanted to say was that ninja can transmit emotions through their chakra and if we can exude killing intent, then we should also be able to do the same for other types of intent. Even positive ones."

Fuelled by intellectual curiosity, Port reengaged the conversation, putting the whole previous "killing intent" accident behind his back, "I'm afraid I've lost you. How are positive emotions causing Grimm to flee? I can understand how they may not be drawn to those feelings, but scare them away?"

"You yourself told me the most common situations which attracts hordes of Grimm: calamities and conflicts. I can see quite clearly why the Grimm might decide to attack humans in those circumstances and it's definitely not only because of some mindless impulse guiding their primitive brains. They use the same tactics several shinobi villages utilised in the past, and I can assure you that they were not irrational." Maki's polite smile slowly morphed into a more sombre one, as she recollected her own experiences while finding herself in one of those situations.

"During a calamity, natural or not, humans are afraid because they feel desperate. That causes them to lose hope and the will to fight, making them an easier target to crush. A conflict, instead, awakens our more primal fear, the fear of death which transforms into hate, rage and anger toward the enemy who is trying to end our life. And a third party, a pack of Grimm for example, simply has to stand back and watch us destroy one another before barging in and take out whoever is still standing, basically making no efforts whatsoever in the process. You can see that attacking humans in those situations is not as illogical as it may sound."

The sorrow set in Maki's face slowly melted away, her features softening, as a new determination bubbled up inside of her. "But if the people are united. If they all strife toward one common goal, trusting and helping each other out along the way. Never varying from their mutual objective and ready to fight whoever may walk in their path, who is trying to undermine their future, then attacking this group of people is much, much more difficult. And Naruto is the walking embodiment of all these intentions and feelings."

"You have a great respect for him," Port stated, his tone unusually soft and low, compared to the loud and boisterous voice he was commonly known for.

"Absolutely, almost every ninja does," Maki answered without a second thought. "Without Naruto something like the Shinobi Union wouldn't have been possible. The idea that the five major shinobi village could cooperate with each other was just that, an idea. Sure, we set aside our differences to fight against the Akatsuki at the beginning of the Fourth Shinobi War, but several ninja doubted that the Alliance would have lasted after the conflict. Then we found ourselves fighting against the Jūbi. A creature whose power was immensurable, capable of bringing total destruction to the world. And Naruto, the only one who had the chakra reserves to fight against this monster, do you know what he did once he found himself in front of it? He shared his chakra with every shinobi and kunoichi present on the battlefield."

A chuckle escaped her lips, seeing the surprised expression etched on Port's face. "Logically, he should have prioritised attacking the titanic creature trying to destroy the world rather than protect the thousands of ninja who were, objectively, useless in that fight. But that is Naruto for you, always looking out for his comrades. Because we were all that for him, comrades. It didn't matter that we were from different villages or that he had never seen our faces before in his life, just being there was enough for him to be considered a part of his team."

"Thinking back at the fight against the Jūbi, I believe that was the exact moment the Alliance Forces really came together as one. The moment we realised we were all comrades, in and outside of the battlefield. And that wouldn't have been possible without Naruto," gazing into nothingness, she mused aloud to herself with a faint smile on her face before gently shaking her head and looking back at the professor. "Anyway, getting back to what I was saying before I started reminiscing about the past, I believe that Grimm can feel Naruto's intentions. His determination to fight, to protect, to defend the people around him and that is what scares them away. Not the strength of his chakra, but what he is willing to do with it."

"That is certainly an interesting theory," Port commented as he bent down to pick up the bundle of cloth holding his precious Boarbatusk, which had been laying discarded at his feet for the majority of their conversation. "Truthfully, I've never made an extensive analysis on Grimm's behaviour influenced by human's emotions. The people of Remnant have described them, for as long as we can recall, as creatures of destruction so, their attraction to feelings of negativity, seemed an expected consequence of their wicked nature. Perhaps there's more than that. I'll have to talk with the other professors and share with them your insights. Thank you, my dear."

Waving her hand dismissively in the air, Maki began to walk again toward the Academy with the professor carrying the Boarbatusk in tow, "You don't need to thank me, Professor Port. After all, isn't that the reason why I'm here? To establish a dialogue between our two different cultures? You could say that I'm simply following my mission parameters."

Port let out a deep, belly laugh, his entire form shaking with mirth. "I believe you are indeed correct. In view of this fact then, in order to establish a more open dialogue between the two of us, I invite you to refer to me simply as Peter, my dear. There's no need to be so formal," he said as he leaned in a bit closer to her, his bushy eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

Chuckling awkwardly, Maki picked up her pace. Her face motionless as she kept on staring straight ahead of her, not daring to look back at the huntsman, while mentally praying for Naruto to come back and distract the flirty, middle-aged professor with some tale about his past. Even a sudden Grimm attack was welcomed in that moment, maybe some Ursa could feel her desperation and come to her rescue. She was sure that if Grimm could actually feel negative emotions, then they would probably console her with a pat on her back before trying to maul her just to end her misery.

Even a Grimm would take pity on her right now.

 **x-x-x-x-x**

Artic blue eyes carefully followed the intricate dance of blades transpiring in front of them on the circular stage of the Beacon Academy's amphitheatre. As a kenjutsu user herself, Samui could easily see, even from her distant position on the bleachers arranged around the stage, what Chōjūrō was trying to teach to the second year student who was currently sparring against him. This Yatsuhashi Daichi had the technique and strength to use his bronze large curved sword, but the mastery of your weapon wasn't the only aspect a swordsman had to develop in order to assure their victory in a battle. And Chōjūrō was slowly showing him exactly that as he systematically broke apart, piece by piece, every movement of Yatsuhashi's sword style.

Constantly changing speed, direction, rhythm and strength of his strikes, the Kiri shinobi kept the huntsman in training on his toes and left him completely in the dark about what his own next move may possibly be. It was also more impressive once you considered that Chōjūrō didn't move an inch from his starting position at the centre of the stage and only defended himself from Yatsuhashi's constant onslaught with his Hiramekarei still wrapped in bandages in its sealed form.

Their fight was a sight to behold, however, after witnessing Killer B-sama training in his unique kenjutsu involving seven blades, every other sword style just wasn't as cool as that in her eyes. The Hachibi jinchūriki had his quirks, but his skill with a blade, or in his case blades, was nothing to laugh at.

Nevertheless, Samui still enjoyed overseeing the current spar and she was pleasantly surprised to notice that the tall teen had a good control over his emotions. Self-control was not something that huntsmen and huntresses in training seemed to value from what she had seen during her brief permanence at the Academy, probably because they only started the real combat and psychological training in their late teens and not during their childhood like ninja did.

On the other hand, while Yatsuhashi appeared to be slightly frustrated, and understandably so, the annoyance he felt from his inability to hit his opponent was always kept under control, as the huntsman took deep breaths between each attack, mindful not to raise his blade while his mind was clouded by busy thoughts or strong emotions.

That cool type of behaviour definitely gained him some points in her book.

"Your friend is really good. I haven't seen a lot of people being able to simply shrug off a direct hit from Yatsuhashi like it was nothing. Who would have thought that the shy cutie was hiding all of that? I guess it's true what they say: it's always the quiet ones," Coco Adel, leader of team CFVY, complimented in a vaguely flirtatious tone Chōjūrō's abilities as she lowered her head toward the stage, pulling her sunglasses down on the tip of her nose.

"Chōjūrō-san is a master swordsman," slowly blinking once, Samui retorted, her voice calm and even as usual, while her gaze was still locked on the spar. "His temperament outside of the battlefield has nothing to do with his skill. How was the mission?"

At first confused by the seemingly out of place question, Coco, Velvet and Fox, who were watching their teammate's spar while sitting right next to the jōnin from Kumo, were startled when they heard a deep, masculine, unfamiliar voice coming from behind them, "One live Boarbatusk wrapped and delivered as requested, Samui-taichō. Professor Port decided to call it Edgar, for some reason. So, that's the guy who wanted to spar with Chōjūrō… wow, he's tall."

While Samui simply nodded her head at Naruto's statement, internally pleased to hear that the two ninja didn't encounter any trouble during their mission, the three members of team CVFY were studying the two new arrivals sitting behind them with interest.

They didn't consider themselves veteran huntsmen and huntresses, not even close, but sneaking up on them was not something so easy to do, especially since one member of their team was a rabbit Faunus. Velvet's long, brown rabbit ears were not just for show and being able to approach her without alerting her or making a single sound showed a large amount of skills. Well, they were ninja after all, so it probably wasn't that surprising. Being stealthy was literally their business.

After a few silent moments of contemplation, Coco decided to be the one to break the ice. Understandable considering Fox introverted demeanour and Velvet shy personality. Those two were definitely not going to start a conversation with some strangers any time soon. "Hello there, tall, blond and handsome. I'm Coco Adel, leader of team CVFY (coffee) and partner of the guy fighting against your teammate down there. They are the rest of my team: Fox Alistair and his partner Velvet Scarlatina. And you two are?"

Shaking Coco's offered hand with a beaming smile, Naruto imperceptibly raised an eyebrow at the firm grip of the stylish leader before introducing himself, "Uzumaki Naruto and she is Maki. Unfortunately, our team doesn't have any cool acronym." Said Suna kunoichi greeted with a soft smile the three teenagers whose eyes widened slightly with recognition at the blond's name.

As his gaze travelled upwards, the jinchūriki took notice of Velvet's fluffy appendages and, in a true Naruto fashion, dashed right in front of her, his face uncomfortably close to her own. "Are you a rabbit Faunus?"

"Yes, she is. Why? Is there a problem?" Coco asked, her tone slightly defensive as Fox, with his arms crossed over his chest, straightened his posture and slowly leaned in closer to his partner, who immediately hid behind his shoulder, her long rabbit ears now flat against her head. Both of them were very much aware that this guy was completely out of their league, but if he was just another bigot with some stupid prejudices against Faunus, then they were not going to simply abandon their teammate.

"Problem?" Naruto echoed confused, a bandaged finger absently scratching his whiskered cheek. Seeing their defensive postures and apprehensive looks they were sending his way, his eyes widened and his lips formed a silent O of understanding.

Frantically waving his hands in front of him, he shook his head as he quickly denied their suspicions, "No, no. There's no problem whatsoever, I have absolutely nothing against Faunus. She is the first one that I've seen with rabbit's traits and I got a little excited. Sorry about that, by the way," abashed, Naruto sheepishly apologised as he nervously rubbed the back of his head. "Besides, I have absolutely no problems with rabbits. I found them adorable. Well, most of the times at least."

"Most of the times?" Velvet squeaked out red faced, peeking from behind Fox's shoulder.

His expression suddenly turning serious, Naruto stared right at the Faunus, who immediately felt drawn into his eyes. Her own chocolate orbs mesmerised by his blue ones, as they looked deep into her very soul. But she couldn't describe those irises as being something as simple as blue. Their colour wasn't so plain, so boring, so ordinary. The most apt description she could think of was comparing them to the sea. Crystal clear, shimmering and calm on the surface but, once she went a little bit deeper, a whole new spectrum of colours was revealed to her. Myriads of different shades of blue chaotically swirling together, from the bright, predominant sapphire to specks of rich indigo, forming a whirlpool that softly embraced her and gently pulled her into its depths. Velvet knew she couldn't escape it but, honestly, she didn't even want to try to do it. Why should she? That ocean she found herself slowly sinking in wasn't angry, rebellious or treacherous to her, but the very opposite. It was welcoming, protective and just a touch playful as its currents tenderly rolled over her skin making the Faunus feel safe and warm.

"You are not planning to enslave the world into your own personal army of zombies, are you?"

And just like that the entire spell was broken and Velvet could only stand still and blink owlishly at Naruto, utterly dumbfounded by his question. She wasn't the only one, as also her teammates had that very same expression etched on their faces.

The member of team CFVY had no idea that Naruto was making a reference to one of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's monikers – Usagi no Megami (Rabbit Goddess) – and that fact only made the situation more hilarious to the two kunoichi present, with Maki fondly shaking her head amused, and Samui simply rolling her eyes, as a small smirk tugged at her lips.

When Velvet hesitantly shook her head at Naruto's strange question, the blond shinobi responded to her with a beaming smile and a thumbs up, "Then you've got nothing to worry about, Velvet-chan."

While the Faunus tried her utmost best to make her presence as small as possible, burying her face into Fox's side in an attempt to hide the enormous blush she could feel spreading over her cheeks, Coco gave the shinobi a smirk while jabbing at him playfully with her finger. "You're weird. I like you."

"Thanks?" Naruto answered ending with a questioning tone, for he was not completely sure whether to consider her words a compliment or not.

"It seems that Chōjūrō-san is about to finish."

Samui's cool voice stopped the byplay between Naruto and the Beacon's students as all of them turned their heads at once toward the stage where the spar was still ongoing but, according to the busty kunoichi's words, not for long.

The Kiri swordsman, after fending off the umpteenth attack from Yatsuhashi, swiftly pulled out a small scroll from the pouch tied around his leg and, after a fast sequence of one handed hand seals, a small amount of water poured out from the parchment, flooding part of the arena. Yatsuhashi, alarmed by the sudden and unusual action, stopped his charge and put a dozen or so of feet between himself and his opponent. His hands were nervously clenching the hilt of his sword as he patiently waited for the shinobi's next move.

Raising two fingers in the air, Chōjūrō intoned three words whose meaning, while completely obscure for every Remnant's native, was perfectly clear for the ninja present in the amphitheatre, "Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden in Mist Technique)."

Mist slowly formed in the air, engulfing the two swordsmen who were staring at one another while not moving a single muscle. Once the stage was completely covered by the distinctive Kiri's technique, a few moments of silence passed before Chōjūrō's voice echoed throughout the amphitheatre, "The spar is not over yet, Daichi-san. Please, keep on going. I'm still staying in the same spot."

With a grunt mixed of effort and frustration, Yatsuhashi ventured into the mist. His blade held high in front of him as his eyes tried in vain to pierce through the thick curtain of fog surrounding him. As his mind was busy trying to recollect Chōjūrō's position on the arena, something struck his shin, making him stumble to the ground. Rolling on his back, the huntsman quickly regained his footing and pointed his sword toward the locations from which he thought the hit came, but only the dull, empty, pale azure of the mist greeted him.

"I still haven't moved. You passed by me, Daichi-san," Chōjūrō's composed advice almost seemed to mock Yatsuhashi. Here he was, trying to hit his opponent, who was nice enough to even help him in his attempt.

Taking a calming breath, Yatsuhashi narrowed his eyes at the mist. "How can I hit you if I can't see you?"

"Do you want to know why I decide to use this technique, Daichi-san?" Chōjūrō didn't give him any time to answer, as he continued with his explanation, "You are a very good swordsman, you truly are, however constantly fighting against Grimm hindered your abilities somewhat."

Yatsuhashi perked up his head at this statement, confused, as he wandered through the mist, letting himself be guided by the shinobi's voice. "Huntsmen and huntresses rely almost entirely during a fight on what their eyes can see because their main opponents, the creatures they are trained to fight and kill, are not famous for their sneakiness. Once a Grimm attacks, it'll not try to deceive its opponent, but it will simply strike over and over again, hoping to score a hit and defeat its target."

"Ninja, on the other hand, don't have that luxury." Yatsuhashi froze on the spot, as he could feel a small blade pressing on his chest, right above his heart. In that moment, the mist gradually started to disperse and Chōjūrō emerged right in front of the tall huntsman, a kunai resting between his fingers gently pressed over his green short sleeved robe. The entire amphitheatre was in complete silence, as every students and professors listened carefully to the shinobi's words. "You asked a spar against a fellow swordsman, not a Grimm. You can't use against me the same tactics you would use out there in wilderness while battling against those creatures. Our eyes are the easier sense to fool and you can't only count on them to assist you during a fight. If your opponent uses illusions, finds a way to hinder your sight or, quite simply, is just faster than you then, no matter how skilled you are with your sword, you are never going to win that fight."

With a pensive look, Yatsuhashi questioned the fellow, more experienced swordsman, "What do you suggest?"

"I saw you meditating before our spar. That's a good start." Nodding his head, Chōjūrō put back the kunai back into his pouch while Hiramekarei was already safely placed in the holster on his back. "Train to expand your senses. Sound, smell, the vibration of the ground or air are all excellent methods to track your opponent's movements. In time, you'll develop your own style and then it'll be extremely difficult to catch you off guard."

As Yatsuhashi bowed his head deeply in gratitude for the spar and the precious teachings, Chōjūrō's confident demeanour, which he showed from the beginning of the fight until that very moment, shifted into a more introverted and bashful one. Absentmindedly scratching the stubble on his chin, his cheeks glowed with a thin hue of an embarrassed pink before he respectfully bowed back to the huntsman. "I really enjoyed our spar, Daichi-san. I hope that you'll challenge me again in the future and show me how far you have progressed."

A gentle but firm hand on his shoulder stopped Chōjūrō from following his fellow swordsman off the stage. With her usual stern expression, Glynda Goodwitch guided the confused shinobi back to the centre of the arena before turning around and addressing the students scattered around the amphitheatre, "Is there someone else who would like to challenge Mr. Chōjūrō next?"

An excited buzz followed her words and, while waiting for Chōjūrō's next opponent to present themselves, Glynda leaned in closer to the shinobi and whispered to him, "I hope you don't mind, but I talked with Miss Samui and she told me that you have no assignments for the rest of the day. The students will learn more from sparring against you than they will ever learn from fighting against one another. I would like you to spar with them and give them your insights on their fighting skills."

Giving a somewhat resigned and bashful nod, knowing that what the huntress had said wasn't a request as her tone implied but not minding it in the least, Chōjūrō gripped once more the double hilt of his sword as he removed Hiramekarei from his back and prepared himself for the next fight. A deadpan expression swept across his face once his eyes scanned over the raised bleachers in the spot where the rest of his team was observing the spar.

Samui, cool as always, was seated in the exact same place he had last saw her in and, sitting right next to her, Yatsuhashi was talking with the rest of team CFVY, probably discussing about the spar that had just transpired. But that wasn't what caused the current expression etched on Chōjūrō's face. Seeing Naruto wrapped from head to toe in Maki's cloth, leaving only his cerulean sparkling eyes uncovered, with said Suna kunoichi happily sitting next to him was. From the jinchūriki's slouched form and pleading looks he was sending to the stoic Samui, who was diligently ignoring him, Chōjūrō rightfully assumed that Naruto probably wanted to offer himself as the next contestant and the two kunoichi were more than ready to stop him.

A spar between him and Naruto… this amphitheatre wasn't equipped to handle that.

 **x-x-x-x-x**

Sitting cross-legged in the centre of the balcony just outside the grandiose ballroom of Beacon Academy, a solitary figure stood perfectly still under the clear, starry night. His form, lit by the silver light of the cracked moon, was completely immobile, not a single muscle twitching. Even when a pair of adventurous birds decided to use his short spiky blond hair as a temporary nest and blissfully slept there, the young man didn't react.

Naruto didn't notice any of that and if he did, he wasn't bothered by it. His senses were not focused outwards but inwards, almost the exact opposite of what he had done in the Emerald Forest just a few hours prior that very same day. Instead of taking in the beautiful scenery of the night, his consciousness was slowly descending deeper and deeper into his mind, bringing him somewhere far away from Beacon Academy and the land of Remnant, at least figuratively.

His eyelids lazily fluttered open and his own wobbly reflection peered back at him from the shimmering water that covered the entire floor. Standing up from his seated position, Naruto straightened his clothes. The soft rustling of fabric echoed in the giant room shrouded in darkness as a single dim light above the lone shinobi cast a diffused glow around him. The simple white t-shirt and orange pants he wore to bed were, as expected, still perfectly dry. The liquid, that now was gently washing over his bare feet, hadn't left the smallest of stains on his clothes and Naruto wasn't surprised by that fact.

Laws of physics worked slightly differently inside of his mind.

As the blond Uzumaki raised his head, a warm gust of wind rolled over him, rippling the water in the process. "So, what do you think?" Naruto seemingly asked to no-one in particular.

"I think that I'd like to sleep without having someone bothering me in the middle of the night," a deep, grumbling voice responded from the depth of darkness. A single enormous crimson eye snapped open and glowed brightly in the dark room as its slit pupil bored into the form of the shinobi. Naruto simply tilted his head on the side and raised a challenging eyebrow at the testy response before a smirk formed on his lips.

"Aren't foxes supposed to be nocturnal animals?"

A growl masked as a laugh was his answer. "Ha, ha. You are so funny, Naruto. Now just shut up, so I can tell you what I found out and then I can go back to sleep." Kurama, grumbling unintelligibly under his breath all the while, slowly emerged from the shadows and approached his still smirking container. Once his muzzle passed between the two massive open gates that once held him prisoner, the bijū plopped down on the ground with a resounding thump, his nose just few feet from Naruto, as he draped his head over his crossed paws.

"So, what the people of these lands call Aura is definitely chakra," Kurama stated with certainty, any trace of his previous annoyance gone. "It took me a while to understand it but the easiest way to describe it would be comparing it to an incredibly dense amount of chakra constantly circling throughout their entire body. It would explain why these huntsmen have faster regeneration abilities than the average ninja but are unable to use elemental attack without the assistance of dust. The Aura in their body automatically heals them and increases their physically abilities but, in exchange, they can't manipulate it and are only able to use it to fuel their semblance, which is similar to a kekkei genkai."

Nodding his head along to Kurama's explanation, Naruto tapped his chin thoughtfully with one bandaged finger. "I thought that too. Whenever I tried to sense a huntsman or a huntress, their signature reminded me of Lee after opening the first two gates. A lot of chakra is constantly running through their body but they're unable to mould it properly. They might be more physically resilient than ninja but they certainly lack the same variety of techniques. Do you think that this chakra is the same Hagoromo-jiji gave to us ninja, just in different quantities?"

"The chakra is the same but this isn't otōsama work," the bijū immediately denied that theory. His father had a complete understand of chakra. What it was, its origin and how it worked. Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, the first Sage of Six Paths and God of Shinobi would have never done such a sloppy job.

He created him, after all.

"The people in this part of the world are flooded with chakra, their system is almost in constant overload. I don't know where this 'Aura' came from and, after listening to the numerous professors in Remnant, it seems that they don't know it either, but I'm certain that otōsama would have never done something like this. For now, we can only guess. On a different note, I didn't sense any negative emotions during this past week. The mission seems to be fine, for now," the giant kitsune changed the subject, loudly yawning as he did so, "The professors are all genuinely willing to work with your team and are even a little bit too eager to learn about the shinobi's culture. Some students are afraid of you and other are nervous in your presence but nothing that we didn't already expect. Well, except for one case." Looking down at the confused Naruto with one teasing eye, the bijū mused aloud, "A timid rabbit that blushes every time she sees you. Remind you of someone?"

With a wistful smile, Naruto seated down next to Kurama, his back leaning against his muzzle as he passed a hand through his soft, orange fur. "Velvet-chan is just like a younger Hinata-chan, isn't she?"

Seeing the melancholy expression on his container's, but most importantly, friend's face, Kurama playfully swatted him in the head with one of his tails, the best way he could think of to get the knucklehead blond out of his funk. "Please, tell me that you are not going to be all depressed once again thinking about your ex-girlfriend."

The words were teasing and sarcastic, but Naruto could easily see the hint of concern hidden in those huge crimson orbs. Thankfully patting Kurama on the nose, Naruto stood up, arched his back and stretched his arms before a small smile formed on his lips. "Don't worry Kurama, I'm fine. It's been months after all, I'm better now. I promise that I'll let you sleep and we're going to talk once again tomorrow… in the afternoon. I know how much you love your beauty sleep."

After giving him one last, long scrutinizing look, Kurama nodded his head once, happy to see that Naruto was being truthful, both about his current state of mind and his precious beauty sleep. "Good. Not only I'm tired but I have absolutely no idea on how to help you on that subject. You should really find someone else to talk about it. After all this time, I still find human's relationships incredibly confusing. For example, the strange fixation you ningen have on mammary glands simply baffles me."

Stuttering intelligibly, Naruto glared at the giant fox, "Fixation?! I'm not Ero-Sennin, dattebayo!"

"Oh really?" Kurama rhetorically asked him, raising a non-existent eyebrow, "I remember seeing you spending a lot of time focusing on those during the various mating rituals you had with her. Sure, Hinata's were a larger size than normal, but what is the appeal of them?"

Naruto's mouth opened and closed wordlessly for a few moments when the shinobi, all of the sudden, stiffened completely for a few heartbeats. A second later his eyes narrowed suspiciously at the bijū as the blond wondered aloud to himself, "How can you know what I have or haven't done during my… mating rituals?" Blushing once the realisation hit him, he pointed an accusing finger at his _friend_ , "You were looking! You promised not to do it! Those were private moments! You… you… you, Ero-Kitsune!"

Kurama recoiled as if physically slapped, once he heard Naruto's new nickname for him. "Hey, it's not my fault. I didn't look on purpose! There I was, pleasantly napping, when I feel you using some of my chakra to heal yourself. Being the concerned friend that I am, I decided to listen to what was happening outside the seal to make sure that you weren't in trouble. And what do I hear? Hinata screaming like a banshee." Naruto blushed to the root of his hair as Kurama went on talking, "Immediately I thought you were under attack and when I looked through your eyes – to see how I could help you, mind you – I saw Hinata squirming under you while her nails clawed down your back. How could I have possibly known that?"

"Ok, that was one singular accident and I understand it. But you clearly said… 'various mating rituals', as plural. How do you explain that? Did this accident casually happen over and over again by any chance?" Naruto retorted, red-faced and his voice dripping with sarcasm, as his foot hastily tapped on the wet floor.

Crimson orbs nervously darting back and forth, Kurama awkwardly cleared his throat, his mind furiously trying to find a way to get him out of this embarrassing situation. Thankfully for him, someone came to his rescue as he could clearly sense a person approaching Naruto's position outside of the seal. "Ozpin is coming. You should get out of here."

"Oh, no. You're not getting away that easily!" Naruto's raging yell never reached its intended target as the shinobi suddenly found himself back on the balcony at Beacon, outside of the seal. After blinking his eyes several times, clearing his blurry vision, he passed a hand over his face, a stream of muttered curses flowing from his lips as he massaged his temples. He was going to get Kurama so bad. Just wait!

Walking into the balcony, Ozpin approached the mumbling shinobi with slow and steady steps, the tapping of his cane resounding in the quiet night accompanied the sporadic sound of him sipping his coffee. Once he reached the form of the young man still seating on the stone floor, the headmaster slowly turned his head toward the ground, regarding the blond Uzumaki with a raised eyebrow. "Something on your mind, Naruto?"

' _A giant nine tailed fox who is apparently interested in my sex life._ ' Yeah, he really couldn't give him that answer. Whoever said that 'honesty is the best policy', they definitely had never found themselves in this kind of situation. "Nothing, just can't sleep," Naruto said in the end, which wasn't exactly a lie – Kurama's revelation was going to keep him awake for a long time – as he stood up from the floor and looked up at the broken moon shining brightly in the dark sky.

"Ah, I understand. It seems that I can't sleep either." Ozpin nodded his head once, slowly, before he brought the mug over his lips, blew over the liquid to cool it, then took a sip.

Sniffing the air, Naruto scrunched up his nose and pointed a finger at the mug Ozpin was holding in his hand, "Isn't that coffee?"

The silver haired huntsman moved said mug in front of his eyes and looked at it in an appreciative manner. "Yes, it is. My very own personal blend. Just what I need to keep me awake and talk with you."

"But you said you couldn't sleep." Scratching his head, Naruto sent the professor a confused look.

Not missing a beat, Ozpin responded in his usual calm and collected tone, as he was explaining something to one of his students, "That's right. That's why I'm here."

"But… sleep and coffee…" Naruto lamely trailed off, his finger and eyes bewilderedly switching between the mug and Ozpin's face, before letting out a defeated sigh.

Shaking his head, he decided that it was better if he gave up trying to understand Ozpin's contort logic, unsure if the headmaster was simply messing with him or he was actually being serious. His gut was telling him that it was most likely the first option and the blank face of the headmaster, somehow, only managed to confirm that theory. Maybe it was just something that every teacher liked to do: teasing the youngster around them. Kakashi-sensei definitely loved to do that. With a smirk on his lips at that thought, Naruto went back to stare at the moon. Its imperfection only made it more beautiful to his eyes. No longer a boring sphere but a new shape: chaotic and harmonious at the same time.

The huntsman followed the shinobi's gaze and, after discretely studying the blond's expression and posture for a few silent moments, he commented between sips of coffee, "Are you sure that there's nothing on your mind? I don't consider myself a wise man, but I'm willing to lend a friendly ear if you'd like to. I admit that a part of me is also curious to learn more about you. Whatever you're willing to share, of course. I'm still trying to… understand you."

"Understand me?" Naruto echoed, softly chuckling to himself. "People usually tell me that I'm a pretty simple guy who always shows his emotions quite openly and clearly in public for everyone else to see. Not the norm for a ninja, but I've always been considered unpredictable. What's not to understand?"

"Right now?" Ozpin asked to himself as he looked at the Uzumaki. "Knowing why you are outside in the middle of the night staring at the moon could be a good start, for example."

"I like the view?" Naruto joked lightly before the mirth slowly left his features and a gentle melancholy took its place. A deep sigh left his lips as he rubbed the back of his head. Well, Kurama did tell him that he had to talk about it with someone else. "Have you ever wondered what your life would be if you'd made a different choice in the past?"

"Every single day." The gravity in Ozpin's voice startled Naruto but, a sip of coffee later, his stoic posture returned, leaving the shinobi wondering if he simply imagined the anguish and regret he felt in Ozpin's voice. "What is the choice that is keeping you awake this night? If you don't mind me asking."

"It's about a girl," the Uzumaki responded, feeling suddenly slightly bashful. "I realised my feelings for her shortly before my confrontation against Toneri and we confessed our feelings for each other right after the battle on the moon. At the beginning, everything was great: she reciprocated my feelings, we started to date, get to know one another better and then, not even a month later, Remnant happened."

"And since you are Uzumaki Naruto, the Saviour of this World, you were asked to be an ambassador for your people and you started to travel, a lot," Ozpin concluded, having a good idea of the numerous times Naruto accompanied the five Kage or the various diplomatic convoys during the past two years of negotiation between the Shinobi Union and the kingdoms of Remnant. Considering his charming personality, unrivalled power and the deep respect every ninja village had for him, it was only logical to make him an ambassador for the Shinobi Union.

His smile turning wistful once again, Naruto looked at the headmaster. "Yeah. At first, we tried to make it work, spending every free moment we had with one another. But between my diplomatic missions and her normal duties as kunoichi we kept seeing each other less and less until she broke things off a month before I was sent to Vytal in preparation of this mission. I understand her, four years is a long time. She told me that she didn't want to be just a promise. That we should be together because it's what we want, not for what we swore one time in the past."

As he shrugged his shoulder, Naruto put a hand behind his neck, slowly rolling his head. "I guess that I can't help but wonder what would have happened if I'd refused this mission, if I'd chosen to stay by her side instead of attending the various diplomatic meetings between shinobi and huntsmen. Maybe we would still be together, who knows?"

"I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, but one thing that those mistakes taught me is that it's useless wondering about the millions of 'what ifs' of your past. Those memories should be your teachers, not your burdens," Ozpin lectured the shinobi, his eyes showing a glint of understanding behind his round, shaded, glasses. "The real question you should ask yourself is do you regret your action? Do you regret being an ambassador for the Shinobi Union and being right here, right now in my Academy?"

"No." A weight lifted from his chest as that single, simple word came out from Naruto's mouth in a raspy breath.

"Then just move forward. Reminiscing about the past is good, but not if prevents you from living your future." The moment Ozpin finished his advice, his scroll buzzed awake with a message. Grabbing it, he quickly read the text before putting the device back in his pocket with a smirk now present on his face. After giving the shinobi one last polite smile, the headmaster headed toward the exit, not before adding a few parting words over his shoulder, "Think about what I've said, Naruto. Now, I have to see if a little rose is going to join us. Hopefully, Glynda won't manhandle her too much."

Seeing the headmaster disappearing through the dark, empty hallway of the Academy, Naruto looked at the moon one last time before walking back to his room. It seems that no matter where he went, silver-haired teachers with a sad background and weird quirks were going to follow him everywhere. Oh well, at least Ozpin was drinking coffee and not reading adult literature. That he was aware of.

 **x-x-x-x-x**

 **Author note:** Long wait, long chapter. Here we go, hope you enjoyed!

Now, let's get this over it. Let's talk about what we all want to talk about: Hinata.

For all the NaruHina fans who will abandon this fic after reading this chapter… I hope that you enjoyed it until it lasted and it's been nice knowing you. The reason why this chapter actually took so long to write is for this exact reason. I had no idea on how to write the break up between Naruto and Hinata and, honestly, I still don't like how it turned out but if I wait any longer I'll never going to post this chapter. Now, before you start leaving me angry reviews, let me say a couple of things.

First of all, I don't absolutely hate NaruHina or Hinata. I love both of them, and I think that Hinata is a great character with an amazing development but, since this story is a crossover between Naruto and RWBY, I want Naruto to interact with characters from RWBY even in a romantic setting and Naruto is not someone who cheats. So, I had to break them up and it really hurt me to do that, but it was necessary for my story.

I think that I made clear why Naruto and Hinata broke up in the chapter, but I want to clarify a couple of things. The Naruto canon changes completely from the end of the movie The Last. The discovery of Remnant created a ripple effect that altered the life of basically every character from Naruto. Our dear Konoha 12 had to change their plans about weddings and kids once new lands, and possible enemies, were discovered. While no direct conflict happened, there was still some tension between the kingdoms of Remnant and the Shinobi Union especially at the beginning. After all, a single shinobi (kind of) destroyed the moon, so the four kingdoms of Remnant were rightfully terrified of the ninja and there was a certain distrust also caused by their two different cultures. Right now, the four team of ninja are in the different Academies in order to build some trust between these two different worlds. While they are willing to work together I wouldn't say that Huntsmen and Shinobi are strong allies.

And that brings us to Naruto being an ambassador. I can totally see Naruto being the poster boy of the Shinobi Union and being paraded around the different kingdoms of Remnant to try to create an alliance of some sort. Probably, the main reason why a war didn't happen was because Remnant knew very well what Naruto was capable of and they decided that it was better having him as a friend rather than an enemy. What Ozpin said in the first chapter, how the moon was a constant reminder of Naruto's destructive power, it's absolutely true. I can assure you that General Ironwood takes a sip of whisky every time he looks at the broken moon. So, it's quite clear why the Shinobi Union would "use" Naruto as a sort of deterrent, besides, his lovable and charismatic nature made him the perfect candidate to bring during a negotiation. If you add the fact the he is probably going to be the next Hokage, you got the full package.

Now, some may argue that Naruto would have never abandoned Hinata. I want to remind you what happened in Boruto the Movie. Naruto there, kind of put his role as Hokage in front of his family, and Hinata understood him and helped him because they were a married couple for over twelve years in that moment. That was a far stronger relationship than this one. In this story Naruto and Hinata stayed together for a year and half, tops. And the moment they began their relationship it changed almost immediately into a long distant one. In my opinion, it doesn't matter how much you may love someone, if you don't have a strong foundation you're not going to last. The thing is that Naruto and Hinata, in this story, didn't have the opportunity to build those foundations, and that's why they didn't work out in the end.

The "promise" I'm referring to, is what Naruto said after defeating Toneri, how he would never leave her. That's why it was Hinata the one who broke the relationship. Naruto never breaks a promise and I think this counts for relationships as well. I can't picture Naruto breaking up with Hinata, I think he would always try his best to make things work even if they clearly don't. No matter the situation he would never abandon someone. It's not his nature. So, it was Hinata who realised that things didn't work out anymore and decided to break things off.

For the Hinata's fan out there, don't you worry. Hinata will appear in the story in the future and will be a total badass. I have an amazing storyline already planned for her and I can't wait to write it.

About pairings, I've just said that Naruto will interact romantically with characters from RWBY. That's true but it'll be in a far future, definitely not right now. I have no idea what the pairing is going to be, it all depends on how the different characters will develop throughout the story, but I'm certain that Naruto will end up with a girl and it's not going to be a harem. That's it. Nothing else is written in stone and I won't make any poll, or looking at the reviews. Nothing of the sorts. The pairing will magically appear to me while I'm writing the story and, right now, I have no idea of who might be paired with who.

Chakra, Grimm and Aura are all topics that I introduced in this chapter and their origins and connection to one another will be explained in the future, just be patient for now. I've got things mostly worked out, so it should be fine. Hopefully. Trying to mix the lore of Naruto and RWBY is probably the most difficult thing of these fanfic but I'm doing my best. Wish me luck.

See you all next chapter. Bye.

 **Posted: 11/22/16**

 **Last Updated: 04/26/17**


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